Genre:Drama - Musical Release Date:1 October 1974 Run time: 72 minutes Director:Jud Taylor Actors:Glenn Ford, Bradford Dillman, David Soul
U.S. Air Force Colonel Pete Moore (Glenn Ford) is the commander of the Whitney Air Force Base Radar Test Group, which has been experiencing electrical difficulties aboard its aircraft. To find the problem, he sends a four-man crew on Flight 412, with Captain Bishop (David Soul) as commander. Shortly into the test, the Grumman Gulfstream II jet, a small twin-engine VIP transport, picks up three blips on radar. Subsequently, two fighters scramble to investigate and mysteriously disappear.
At this point, Flight 412 is forced to land by Digger Control, a top-level military intelligence group that debunks UFO sightings, diverted to a remote, abandoned military airfield somewhere in the desert in the American Southwest. The crew is taken to a barracks building to undergo an 18-hour debriefing by members of a military Scientific Investigation Division (SID) team, which is more like an indoctrination to convince them that they did not see a UFO. Meanwhile, their aircraft is stored in a dilapidated hangar to hide it from search-and-rescue aircraft. To all appearances, Flight 412 has simply vanished into thin air. Colonel Moore, with the help of Major Mike Dunning (Bradford Dillman), sets out to find out what has happened to his crew.
Just as the government interrogation begins to raise doubts among the flight crew about the "flying saucer" sighting, Moore and Dunning find the secret base. Their efforts to release the crew are stymied by SID leader, Lieutenant Colonel Trottman (Guy Stockwell), who cites national security concerns. Bishop attempts to escape, but Trottman threatens to make things rough on his crew, who agree to accept a sanitized version of their report. After their release, when Dunning and Podryski choose to accept the report, the others: Moore, Bishop, Ferguson and Riggs seek the help of General Enright (Kent Smith). Trottman appears and makes the case to the General that nothing untoward has happened. When a similar incident later occurs, the same process is employed; those who cooperate get promoted, while the others find that their careers suffer.
